Apparatus for making pulp articles.



M. P CHAPLIN.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTICLES.

APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE 4.1910.

1, 1 5,634. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I- jwev-cgo 7 P. CHAPLIN. APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4.1510.

Patented N012, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' apparatus for molding articles from the completed MERLE r; CHAPLIN, or PORTLAND, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO KEYEs FIBRE COMPANY, OF wA'rEIwILLE, MAINE, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed June 4, 19 10. Serial No. 564,917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MERLE P. CHAPLIN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Portland, county of Cumberland, State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Making Pulp Articles, of which the following description, in connection'with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on representing like parts.

This invention relates to'a machine or p p of the general ty e made the subject of the patent to M. L. eyes, No. 740,023, September 29, 1903. In machines of the type shown in the said Keyes patent two cobperating mold members are employed, and these mold members are carried upon a rotary mold carrierl Usually but one mold member passes down into the vat of pulp, while the other, being pivotally mounted, is

the drawing guided-- from entering the pul In the subsequent stage inthetravel o themolds they are compressed together, the moldsare then separated, the\ molded article being blown from the memberupon which it was formed onto the other member, and then in the furtherstage of the travelofthemold article is lifted from the pivoted mold member by a drop-ped'upon a conveyer by which it is carried through thedrying operation.

v The present invention eliminates the sucker device by which the completedarticle is transferred from the The nature of particularly The drawings represent a machine em bodying the invention with the compressed air and vacuum apparatus shown diagram-' 7 jmatically.

In the drawings, 1 is a side eleva' tion, partially* in cross section, of an apparatus embodying'the present invention; Fig. 1 2 isan end elevation of the same apparatus with some of;the

parts broken away or removed. I

.suitable support. these -standards are secured together by a" sucker device and mold member tojthe" co'nveyera'nd enables'the articleto be'de-. posited immediately from the mold member ample, as pie plates, at one time, the number varylng according to 'the size of the article to be made and the economic size of the single machine. As illustrated, the machine 1sdes1gned for making two pie plates at a time;

The machine as shown comprises an upright frame having the tively, and secured Near their upper ends transverse brace 6. H h A horizontally arranged yoke or frame extends out horizontally from the vertical frame and is disclosed as comprising two arms 7, bolted or secured respectively to the standards 1 and 2'. The arms 7 are illustrated secured bybolts 8 to the standards 1 and 2 respectively. A head 9 unites the arms .This yoke or frame corresponds in general function .to the yoke frame illustrated byuprights, one of which is A suitable vat 11 containing the supply of liquid pulp is mounted between the upright standards. 1 and 2 upon or near the floor and is of sufficient size to. receive the mold mem- Q ber,",or group of mold members, upon which yoke or frame is'supported standards 1 and 2 v V flanged at the bottom at 3 and 4, respecto the fioor 5, or other 1 and described in the patent to M. L. Keyes,

the la er of pulp is deposited, as hereinafter V of the coiiperative action'of the two-mold '7 members. In the form illustrated, one mold member 12, which may be,"as already ex plained, either for asingle-artlcleor fora pluralityof articles, two being illustrated,

1s formed on a hollow head l3fhaving the upwardly projecting arms "14 The head 13 slides vertically Lin ways 15 formed on' the inner sides of the standards 1 and 2. When in its upper'positlonit is in line with the 'yoke or frame,

and '9, and when-in its -descri ed; Thisvat is kept supplied in suitlower position'the mold-memberis immersed f in the liquid pulp inthevat. 11.' This move u inent up and down of the mold member12 y t e may be secured inanysuitable manner, and The machinemaybe arrangedtd make one, or a plurality of articles', such,'for ,ex-'

is herein shown as secured by a pair bf'links 16 pivoted at their; upper ends at 1 7- to the by a link 24 with an abutment 25 carried in the head9 of the yoke frame 7, and when the head 13 is at its upper position, as indicated in Fig. 1, the link 24 is horizontal.

I As the head 13 is moved downwardly the will be discharged directly onto the conlink 24 causes the head 21 to swing about the pivot 23 away from-the head 13, and the parts are so proportioned that when the head 13 reaches its lower position in the pulp vat 11, the link 2 1 swings into-a vertical position with the mold members, carried by the head 21, horizontal and facing downwardly, all as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

A suitable conveyer such as described in the patent to Keyes No. 740,023,, above referred to, is indicated at 26 running over an idler 27 supported by brackets 28 fro the standards 1 and 2 in such a positio that plates or articles discharged from the mold members carried by thehead 21, when in its. position indicated in dotted lines in 1,

veyer.

. The mold members are provided with perforated faces, described in the Keyes patents above referred to, so that air can be drawn and expelled therethrough.

A suitable system of apparatus for supplying compressed air and vacuum to the hollow mold members is provided, but as this system specifically considered forms no' part of the present invention, it is chiefly illustrated in a. diagrammatic manner.

The hollow head 13 has pro'ecting dowiuwardly therefrom a pipe 29 hich extends through the pulp vat 11 and through a stufiing box 30 at the bottom thereof, and by means of this pipe compremed air or vacuum is connected to the hollow head 13 and, consequently, to the hollow mold members supported thereby, at the required times in the operation of forming the plates or other articles. This pipe 29 1s shown as connected by a flexible pipe 301 to a' congrollelr device indicated diagrainmatically'in 1g. i I

The hollow head 21 is connected by a flexible pipe 31 to a'pipe 32 extending to the controller, and by means of which compressed air or vacuum may be admitted to the hollow head 21 and, consequently, to the hollow mold member carried thereby, at the desired times in the operation of formingthe plate or other article. The hollow head 1.3 is also provided with a vertically, up-

'wardly extending pipe 33 normally open to the atmosphere. An ordinary form of check the yoke frame 97, in any suitable manner,

lower ends at valve 34; is provided in the upper end of the and as an illustration of a means for securing the compressionof the mold members a construction is shown similar to that in the aforesaid Keyes Patent No. 908,577. r

lQhe brace or abutment-6 carries anti-friction rolls 35 against which the back of the head 13 rests when in its upper position. The abutment 25 is pressed yieldingly and adjustably with tremendous force in the direction of the anti-friction rolls 35.

. The means for creating the pressure on the abutment 25 and adjusting this pressure 7 i may be of any desired form and is herein illustrated as similar to the means in the aforesaid Keyes Patent No. 908,577, comprising the concentrically-arranged I powerful coil springs 36 and 37 extending between the abutment 25 and the cap 38 screwed into the head 9, together. with'the adjustable hand -nut39 screw-threaded onto the shaft 40 extending from the abutment 25. It will thus be seen that when themold' ,members arrive near the upper limit of their movement the linki 24'begins to assume a horizontal position and gradually, with great force, compresses the mold members together between the anti-friction rolls 35 and the abutment 25. v

The operation of the entire machine will now be apparent. With the parts as indicated in full lines, Fig. l, and with the pulp vat supplied with liquid pulp, the crank wheels 19 .begin to revolve; the head13 is carried downwardly into the pulp vat 11 and vacuum is connected to the head, sucking a thin layer of pul onto the face of the mold members carrie Qthereby'.

tion of the crank wheels the head 13 rises, the vacuum beingcontinued, thus, owing to the open tube 33,'sucln' ng water out of the Upon continued revolu-' pulp. As'the head 13 nears its upper position the head 21 swings back into co5pera tion with-it and the mold membersare forced together with great pressure in the yoke frame. U on reaching its uppermost posi:

- tion the .tu e 33 is closed by the check valve 34 upon disconnecting the vacuum and connectmg'the compressedairto the head 13. Compressed air is now connected to the head 13and vacuum to the head 21 so that upon the-commencement of the descent of the mold members, upon the continued rotation of the crank wheels, the plate formed and pressed is blown from the head 13 onto thehead 21 and held there byl suction. As the operation of the machine continues the head 13-proceeds again into the pulp vat while the head 21 swings down into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and immediately upon reaching that position the vacuum is disconnected therefrom and compressed air connected, blowing the plate olf upon the conveyer 26 by which it is carried through the drying operation. The cycle of operation then continues, causing a continuous stream of plates to fall upon the con-' veyer 26.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described a mold comprising two members, a pulp vat, a compressing device, an endless conveyer,

arms supporting the mold members and pivoted together to allow the cooperative ac;

tion of the said members, means to give a bodily reciprocatory movement to said piv- "oted members, means to guide the one memher in its reciprocations between positions in the pulp vat and in the compressing device, and means to guidethe. other member in its reciprocations between positions over the conveyer and in the compressing device.

2. In an apparatus of the class described a mold comprising two members, a pulp vat,

a compressing device, an endless conveyer, and means for operating and moving said mold members to take pulp from the pulp vat, compress it in the compressing device and discharge the completed article directly on the conveyer. v

3. In an apparatus of the class described means for forming an article directly from liquid pulp including a pair of mold members, an endless conveyer, and means for discharging the formed article directly from one of said mold members onto said conveyer.

4. In an apparatus of the class described a pulp vat, an endless conveyer extending adj acent the vat horizontally arranged fixed and movable abutments located respectively above the vat and the conveyer, a mold member, and means for reciprocating it in a vertical path between the pulp vat and the said fixed abutment, anti-friction devices between said mold member and said fixed abutment, a cooperating mold member pivoted to said first mold member, a link pivoted to the movablefabutment and to the cooperating mold member, and means for exerting pressure upon the movable abutment when the said link and mold member are in line between the abutments.

Intestimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. MERLE P. CHAPLIN.

Witnesses:

FRED L. PENNELL, LnoN V. WALKER. 

